Steel Update

April 18, 1987|Compiled from news services

Sharon Steel Corp. filed for protection from creditors yesterday under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy laws, the latest steelmaker to seek court refuge because of heavy debts and slumping business. The filing, which listed assets of $478 million and debts of $742 million, came with little more than an hour left before a noon deadline set by a major creditor for Sharon Steel, of Mercer County, to redeem $96 million in corporate bonds that went into technical default in March 1985. The creditor, Quantum Overseas N.V., had threatened to force Sharon Steel into Chapter 7 liquidation if its loan was not repaid immediately or if Sharon Steel did not follow an agreement to sell its Meuller Brass Co. subsidiary to Quantum's parent, Quantum Fund N.V. Sharon Steel, controlled by financier Victor Posner, is the nation's 12th-largest steel producer. It lost nearly $62 million on sales of $533 million through three quarters of 1986, its latest earnings disclosure.